VSTE

Virginia Society for Technology in Education

Events

Come Build With Us: Minecraft Monday, January 8, 2018, 8 PM

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Our challenge on Monday, January 8, 2018, 8 PM, is to build a blizzard proof house! Fourth graders in Virginia study weather and our students have a PBL, which some are doing in Minecraft, to research and then build a storm proof house. Most of them concentrated on tornadoes or hurricanes. We are going to do blizzards. So start researching NOW and bring your ideas for a 45 minute challenge. Build and be ready to defend your ideas!

VSTE Virtual Environments PLN hosts a Minecraft server used for these meetings. In order to participate, you need to download and install the Minecraft software and create a regular Mojang account. The one time license for the software costs $26.95. Start here to create your account and access the software.

Send Kim Harrison (k4sons@gmail.com) your Minecraft user name, and she will whitelist you so you can access the server. Please don't want until the last minute.

Once you have been approved and have the software up and running, join our multiuser server at 69.175.17.26:25565. Log into Minecraft, select Multiplayer from the main menu, click the Add Server button, and enter the IP or web address. The server is running the latest version of Minecraft.

We use voice on Discord. It is safe and you can create an account with your Minecraft ID if you prefer. Discord is a download for your computer or an app on your mobile device. Our Discord channel is https://discord.gg/6GGYn5Y

New to Minecraft? The VE PLN has created a beginner's guide just for you.

Tour the Dickens Project with the Virtual Environments Team

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Monday, December 11 at 8 PM EST in Second Life, VSTE will get a guided tour of a Linden Endowment for the Arts sim The Dickens Project 2017. Everyone is invited. If you are a lover of literature this is for you!

Download the SL viewer from www.secondlife.com now and pick a readymade avatar. Let me know if you need help.

From the LEA website:
"The Dickens Project will celebrate its fifth year in Second Life on Linden Endowment for the Arts Region 7 in an expanded edition of the annual event that features "something for almost everyone." Staged on a full region this year for the very first time, the traditional 10 day event that began in 2012 as a celebration of the Dickens Centennial will be open to residents for five weeks, beginning November 25th and closing December 30th, on LEA 7 http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/LEA7/114/149/21

The celebration will feature live music, weekly DJ sessions, stage performances by Guerilla Burlesque, and Misfit Dance & Performance Art in addition to Seanchai's traditional spoken word presentations from the canon of author Charles Dickens (1812-1870) centered on, but not limited to, his novella A Christmas Carol. Carriage and balloon tours, skating, sledding and a few surprises are among the other features planned for LEA 7. The Community Virtual Library has designed an interactive information center on the times and work of Charles Dickens which can also be explored."

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Free Webinar: Developing Your PLN In A Virtual World

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Blue logo for webinarTechnology is evolving as such as fast rate in the 21st Century, that is it difficult attain the skills fast enough to serve our students. VE (Virtual Environments) offer the opportunity to network, collaborate, and learn in ways we never expected as we were in school. On VEs you can work with other educators, technicians, scientists, and students from all over the planet!

Interested in learning more? Join members of VSTE's Virtual Environments Professional Learning Network for a live webinar focused on getting started in virtual worlds. We will gather in VSTE's Adobe Connect room on Monday, October 30, 2017, at 8 PM. Use this link to access the webinar: http://vste.adobeconnect.com/vstelive. Choose guest login and type your name the way you want it to appear in the chat room.

After this kick off event in Adobe Connect the VE PLN is planning a week-long novice training sequence, something new every night, but basic for the true novice.

Finding Your Next Big Idea at VSTE 2017

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While we hope everyone leaves the VSTE Conference with many new ideas to improve your professional practice, the best is always that one big "aha" that you can turn around and use immediately.

In this post, VSTE member Tracey Zaval talks about the great idea she brought back to her classroom from VSTE 2016.

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Last year I attended the VSTE conference for the first time. Not only was I looking forward to attending the conference as a presenter, I was also looking forward to the conference as an attendee. As I veteran teacher of 19 years, I know the mark of a great conference is one where you instantly get excited about something you learn and you can’t wait to get back into the classroom to try it out with your students, and I had high hopes for the VSTE conference. Well, let me tell you, that conference last year was a GREAT one!Photo of students working on a Breakout E D U project

One of the first sessions I attended was a “pop-up” session in the hall of the convention center. The one I attended taught participants about digital breakouts, a computer version of the very-popular escape room concept that require students to work collaboratively and think critically. I had never heard of digital breakouts but within 20 minutes of the presentation, I was excited and I was hooked. I couldn’t wait for the session to be over so I could start looking around the digital breakout site for myself to see how I could adapt their ready-made breakouts for my class.

As soon as the session was over, I found an empty table to sit at as I checked out the available resources on the digital breakout site. I very quickly decided I would need to create my own digital breakout in order to support my students’ learning, so I got right to work. There are a series of videos on that site that teach people how to make their own digital breakout - everything from how to build a google site, how to embed secret clues, and how to create a google form to house all the digital locks. I pretty much spent the next two days of the conference working on my digital breakout in between sessions until I had a finished product.

Photo of students working on a Breakout E D U project.I debuted my first digital breakout, “It’s a Wrap”, in my classroom right before the winter holiday break. The premise of the breakout was to breakout out of the town that ran out of gift-wrapping paper and make it to the town of Wrappinville to buy more. My students had such a great time participating in this activity, they asked right away if they could do another one. At that point, I had already begun working on my next one, a content-related breakout involving James Madison as he was writing the U. S. Constitution. My students were so excited, three weeks later, when they got an attempt to break James Madison out of his office to help him find where he put his draft of the Constitution.

Since the conference, I have created three additional digital breakouts and each time I use one in class, my students’ excitement and engagement goes through the roof. I am so thankful I attended the VSTE conference last year. If there is anyone who is looking for a great conference to attend to enhance the use of technology in their classroom, the VSTE conference is exactly what you are looking for!

Tracy is an 8th grade civics teacher at Midlothian Middle School. Photos are of her students at work on their Breakout EDU.

Join us at VSTE 2017, December 3-5 at the Hotel Roanoke to discover your next big idea. Due to the size of the convention center, space is very limited and is filling fast. Register now!